I Was Different
by AdrienneBuchanon
Summary: The Avengers and Loki have forgotten their identities. All they know is that they woke up in a room. Will Loki be able to craft a new life for himself, finally free from the knowledge of his crimes? Or will his past misdeeds find him?
1. Chapter 1

**Ch. 1**

The god opened his eyes. His head pounded. Where am I? He wondered. He glanced around the room. There was a large blond man lying beside him, he wore a cape, and clutched a hammer like it was a teddy bear. His gaze shifted to a man clad in red and gold armor. Another man wore an outfit covered in stars and stripes. He looked down at his own clothing. He wore a heavy jacket of black leather and a green shirt. He also wore black leather pants.

The man in the stars and stripes stirred. He shot up.

"Who are you?" Stripes demanded.

The god had no answer for him. "I do not know." He admitted. "Who are you?"

"I am...uh...I'm..." The man in stars and stripes trailed off. He nervously picked at the collar of his...uniform? Costume? He pulled on a chain slung around his neck. Dog tags. He read them. "I'm Steve Rogers. Captain Steve Rogers. Apparently."

The god touched his own neck and found no dogtags. He patted his pockets. In one was a small black notebook. He opened it. He read aloud. "Property of Loki Odinson, He who reads this shall be put to death, especially you Thor." He lifted his eyes from the notebook in confusion. "Loki? Thor? Aren't those just legends?"

"Maybe it's just a novel." Steve offered.

"No, this is hand written." The god is struck with an idea. He quickly searches the room. He finds what he is looking for, a pencil and paper. He quickly writes the name Loki Odinson. It matches the handwriting in the book perfectly. "I am Loki." The god muttered. Then trying it on for size, a bit louder. "I am Loki."

Steve sticks out his hand. "Nice to meet you Loki." Loki shakes his hand.

"Thanks Captain."


	2. Chapter 2

The man in the iron suit sat in a chair, his face buried in his hands.

"What the hell happened? I feel like I pounded about twenty gin and tonics last night." He said.

"We know not." The large blond man answered.

There was a whirring sound from inside of the man of iron's suit and it lit up. Then a calm british voice emanated from it. "Sir? Are you alright?"

"I think so, um, sorry I don't know who you are."

"Jarvis, sir."

The man of iron nodded thoughtfully.

"Right, right. And who am I?"

"Tony Stark, sir."

"Okay, uh, Jarvis, do you know what happened here?"

"I do not sir. The armor was disabled, I've been offline for a few hours." At this point Stark's suit began flickering on and off. Jarvis's voice faded in and out like a weak radio signal. "Sir, I think you should-" With that Jarvis fell silent and the suit turned off.

"Well that wasn't ominous at all." Stark said.

Tony began removing his armor.

"Well that's three down, one to go." Steve said.

"If I might," Loki began. "I think I can help with that." He held up the notebook. "This journal makes reference to my brother. Thor. He carries a hammer and is a large, blond, oaf- uh I mean blond person."

"Then so it must be." Thor said.

Tony stood up. "Great, now that Simba has returned to Pride Rock..." All three men stared at him in confusion. Tony sighed heavily. "How have you not seen Lion King?"

"Is this a traditional tale?" Loki inquired.

"Kind of. It's been around for years? Based on Hamlet?"

Loki and Thor's blank stares remained but Steve's cleared.

"I know that one!" Steve said. "We had to read it in high school. I think"

"Thrilling." Tony said. "As I was saying, now that we've figured out our names, maybe it's time to move into phase two?"

He moved to the doorway and tried to turn the handle. Locked.

"Well, there's nothing to be done. We live here now." Tony smirked.

"Is laughter really warranted at present?" Loki said.

"We're locked in, what do you want?"

"You hardly tried."

"Have at it Salazar."

Loki stared at him. "I don't understand, my name is Loki."

"It's a reference to Harry P- Never mind. Just try the door. Or better yet have Point Br- uh Thor and Steve try to break it down"

"That door is made of solid steel." Steve said. You'd have to be on steroids to break that down."

"I agree with Captain Rogers. It would be foolish to attempt." Thor said.

Loki experimentally jiggled the handle. He sat down in front of the door and opened the small notebook. While he and Steve had been waiting for the others to wake up, he had skimmed the pages. He got the distinct impression that he hadn't been a particularly nice person. That didn't sit well with him. He liked these people he had woken up with, well except for Stark. They were all trapped together, so that meant they were friends, yes?

Loki ruffled the pages of the notebook. At the end was a list. An index of sorts. He ran a long pale finger down the page. One read unlock. Beside it was a symbol. One he found he could read easily. This was silly, but they culdn't wait for their captors to return. Could they? He stood and placed his hand on the lock. He whispered something and, to his surprise, heard a click. He turned the knob.

"Shall we depart then?" Loki said.


	3. Chapter 3

**Elsewhere...  
"We shouldn't have left them."  
"Clint, we wouldn't be able to help them if we lost our memories too." She said.  
"Still doesn't sit right" Clint said.  
"They don't have a lot of time." Natasha said. "So less hand wringing and more flying."  
"Where the hell is Banner?"  
"One problem at a time."**

~~~  


"No, no, this is very stealthy." Steve grumbled. The men tromped up the stairs away from the basement cell where they had been held.

"I get the feeling sarcasm isn't really your style Cap." Tony said. He could barely be heard over the clanging of carrying his armor.

"You should have left it." Loki said. "It is unwieldy and is clearly broken."

"Have a care, brother. A warrior does not abandon his armor." Thor said.

Loki started to respond with a wonderfully cutting remark, but held his tongue. That was old Loki. As long as he was stripped of his memories he intended to distance himself from that unpleasant fellow in that notebook. So instead he responded "Very well." He took a few pieces of Tony's armor. Thor and Steve followed suit.

The hallway they walked down was dark and dank. Water dripped from the ceiling. Abandoned hospital equipment was scattered down the hallway.

"What the hell is this place?" Steve murmured.

"Got me." Tony said.

Loki froze. "I hear something." The three other men paused and listened. An anguished cry rose from their room. "We have been discovered."

Thundering footsteps rose up the stairs. Loki saw that Thor instinctively grip his hammer, as the steps got closer. His own instinct was to...well to hide and use his newly discovered magical abilities. He flipped open the notebook. One of the symbols said ice. That sounded promising. The footsteps grew louder. Steve adopted a battle stance. Loki found his own feet shifting into a stance more suited for fighting. How did they know all these things?

Finally their captor arrived. A large brutish man in a lab coat. He saw them standing in the hall, he lets out a roar and rushes them. Thor hit him with his hammer. The man flew back forty feet and slammed into a wall. Thor stared down at the hammer in surprise.

Steve wasted no time, while the man attempted to stand Steve ran the length of the hallway and jumped on top of the brutish man. Tony, who still held his armor in shock, dropped it, and ran to assist Steve. The man wriggled out of Steve's grasp. The man hit Steve, but it hardly seemed to phase him. He then whirled on Tony. Tony tried to hit him, but the man batted him away like a ragdoll.

Loki ran to his side. Tony's arm was bleeding, but he seemed relatively unharmed. Thor and Steve continued to fight the man. They all just seemed to be trading blows. The man grabbed a hold of Steve's neck and began to squeeze. Thor pounded on the man's meaty forearm to no avail.

Loki stood. "Enough of this." He snarled. He then said the ancient word for ice.

Freezing cold shot from his fingertips and enveloped the brutish man. Steve was able to break free from his grasp, and he fell to the floor gasping for breath. The man turned to Loki. All his movements were sluggish as if he were moving underwater. He tried to charge but eventually he froze in place.

Loki turned to face his compatriots, grinning slightly. Pleased that he had won them the battle. They all stared at him.

"Hey Salazar," said Tony. "why are you blue?"


	4. Chapter 4

Ch. 4

Loki looked down at his hands, which were indeed blue. He stammered "I-I don't know."

Tony turned to Thor. "Do you turn blue too?"

"I can only assume yes." Thos said. "We are brothers."

"So are you guys a couple of martians or what?" Steve asked.

Tony made a face. "Steve, you can't just ask someone if they're a martian."

Looking instantly chagrined Steve apologized. "I'm sorry Thor and Loki, that was rude."

"Quite alright." Thor said.

"We're wondering much the same things." Loki murmured, still enamored with his hands. Finally Loki closed his eyes and tried to focus. If Tony could remember all of those ridiculous references then surely he could remember a few things from his own home. From what felt like a million miles away he heard Tony complaining about why Steve and Thor could go ten rounds with big bad, but he got tossed like a shotput. Yes, it wasn't as if Stark was a genius.

Something was coming, he could feel it at the back of his mind. A planet of ice. Loki cracked his eyes open for a moment and saw Thor too was concentrating on figuring out their homeland. Now he saw flashes of another world. Dizzyingly tall spires, sparkling castles, purple and orange skies. A rainbow bridge. Asgard. Their home. The planet of ice surfaced again. Harsh, barren. Jotunheim. Their other home? How could this be?

Loki opened his eyes. "I know where we are from." He turned to Thor, but couldn't quite bring himself to speak.

"Care to elaborate?" Tony said.

"Brother, I am sorry." Loki said. "You will not like what I have to say. Once you understand the implications."

"Speak, brother." Thor said. "We can overcome it together."

Loki smiled wanly. "We are of Asgard."

"I thought as much. Why is that such bad news?"

"Because we are also of Jotunheim."

Thor paled, he looked almost as white as Loki. "Jotunheim. Ice giants. Brother are you sure?"

"I am. I believe we were spirited away from Jotunheim as children and raised as Asgardians. I think the ones who raised us, grew weary, and banished us to..." He paused, trying to find the name of this realm. "Midgard."

Tony raised a finger in the air. "Quick question? Jotunheim, not awesome? Is that the general, uh, thrust of this discussion?"

"Jotunheim is the enemy of Asgard. They are considered quite evil. They are a harsh cold-hearted people." Thor said.

Tony snickered. "Literally and figuratively."

Tony and Loki stared at him. "Because they're cold-hearted but also ice giants..." He wilted under the glare of the brothers. "Right okay, we should probably get out of here. Who knows if Big Bad has friends."

Tony nudges the man encased in ice with his foot. He claps his hands and rubs them together. "So Cap? Thor? All you. Loki and I will supervise." He elbows Loki conspiratorially.

Sometimes Tony wasn't so bad.

Thor and Steve set Big Bad on the ground. They had finally emerged from the building where they had been imprisoned. There was a heavily graffitied sign that read Lorraine-Tanworth Research Hospital.

"How about you two take a shift?" Steve said.

"Steve. Know thine limits. I know my limits, and I think I know Loki's. Look at him, he's whispy. No offense." Tony said.

Loki ignored him. He jerked his head at the Big Bad. Thor lifted one end and Loki lifted the other. It was heavy, but not as heavy as one would think.

"Oh that is just not fair." Tony whined. "He's a beanpole. How is that even- So everyone is a super strong weirdo except for me? The suit is all I've got? That's my power? Wearing armor?"

****Elsewhere...

"You're sure this guy will have an antidote."  
"Clint. Asking me every five minutes is not going to change my answer. If anyone would have it, it'd be him."****

~~~****

"Look Steve, it's not stealing." Tony said. "It's commandeering. We'll bring it back. We'll even put gas in it."  
"It still doesn't feel right."

"Did you want to take Big Bad on the bus?"

"No."

"Then you need to lock it up. You don't see me complaining about having to drive this disgusting yellow monstrosity."

"That is literally all you've been talking about." Loki said.

"I don't see what is so repugnant about this vehicle." Thor said.

"You would." Tony muttered.

Tony stamped on the hummer's gas pedal and they took a sharp left turn at approximately 65 miles per hour.

"Remind me again, why you're driving." Steve said.

"Because I'm the only one with a driver's license. The asgardians don't even have ID's and your license expired in 1949 for some reason. Now quit distracting me. We need a place to lie low until we figure out what the hell is going on."

After an hour of pointless wandering through the city Tony spotted a cheap hotel. He skidded into the parking lot.

"Guess I'm buying." He said. "Hopefully this card has enough on it." He fished a credit card out of his wallet. AmEx Black.

He hopped out of the hummer and went inside. Thor, Loki and Steve waited in the car. Moments later Tony emerged from the lobby with four key cards.

"She says the hot tub is out of order, but that the pool still works."

After hiding Big Bad in some bushes near their door way they go into their room. Tony flops onto one of the beds.

"Okay, here is what I propose. We can either start figuring out what's going on now and elicit a lot of stares. Or we can ditch the spangly outfits and not look like we're performing in the ice-capades."

"We should avoid drawing too much attention to ourselves." Loki mused.

"Great, we snag you guys some threads then we can question Big Bad." Tony said.

"Very well." The other three men say.

A/N Hey guys! So here is chapter 4. I promise answers are coming as to what the hell is going on. Thank you guys so much for the encouragement thus far. I really appreciate it.


	5. Chapter 5

Ch. 5

A/N Funny chapter, kids (How can any not be with Tony around?). But I did promise some answers, so you'll get those as well. Thanks again for the reads, it makes writing this really fun. I've also gotten a lot of great feedback so I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. Being a writer has never been so much fun!

Loki stared at himself dubiously in the mirror. Tony had thrust AC/DC shirts of various sizes into all of their hands. Who AC/DC were or why Tony loved them so much remained a mystery. Steve had mentioned it was related to electricity... He emerged from the dressing room to find Tony gleefully watching. Steve and Thor also emerged with the shirts on.

"Tony, while I appreciate you navigating us through this world's...fashion, perhaps we could find our own attire?" Loki said.

"I think Loki has got the right idea Tony." Steve said.

"Fine. Whatever. I don't care." Tony said. He crossed his arms over his own AC/DC t-shirt.

Loki and the others left Tony sulking by the dressing room and began to explore the men's section of the department store. Thor gravitated to a type of shirt called flannel, Loki wrinkled his nose. It was so...uncouth looking. Loki found himself examining a long black trench coat. He found himself wondering if this was the sort of thing that Salazar Slytherin, that fictional character Tony kept likening him to, wore this type of garb. Loki decided he didn't care. He slid the trench coat on, it fit perfectly. It hung on his slim frame and skimmed his calves in an extremely pleasing way. He found an acceptable shirt, black of course. He wandered over to the tie section while his brother laboredly decided between blue and red flannel. It was there he noticed an emerald bow tie that he found himself very much drawn to. He completed his ensemble with a black brocade vest just as Thor settled on a red flannel shirt and a pair of jeans. Steve joined them with a pack of three plain white t-shirts and a pair of jeans.

Tony met them at the front of the store with four very loud pairs of swim trunks. When he saw their terrified expressions he said "We've gotta be able to wind down after a long hard day of figuring what the hell is going on." He threw his black AmEx onto the counter. The cashier stared at him in awe for a moment, but recovered and rang up their purchases which they wore out of the store.

As they walked out to the car Loki caught Tony eyeing him. "What is it?" He asked.

"It's just, could you look anymore like a villain from a mob movie?" Tony asked.

"I don't know what that means."

"No, no of course not. Never mind."

Loki jolted at the comparison to a villain. It reminded him again of the unpleasant fellow in the journal. They were not the same.

Elsewhere...

They had sat in silence for hours. She had grown weary of his questions and threatened to poison him. He had wisely decided not to call her bluff. Now they began to make their descent. There was snow everywhere.

"Could he have chosen a harder place to find?"

"No, if there was one he'd be there." The sarcasm had flown right her head. Sometimes Clint forgot english wasn't her first language.

They disembarked from the quinjet and made their way towards a small rickety cabin. A man burst from the cabin, rifle at the ready. Natasha put her hands in the air, Clint followed suit.

"Tommy! It's me! Abigail!" She shouted.

Clint made a note to speak as little as possible, he didn't want to risk burning one of Natasha's aliases.

The man fired a shot above their heads? Hadn't Nat said this guy was a friend?

"You got a lot of nerve showing up here!" The man screamed.

Well this seemed promising.

Thor, and Steve sat on the edge of the queen size beds. Tony had sprawled himself over the only available armchair and Loki was pacing. In the middle of the room sat Big Bad. Still frozen.

"It's easy Salazar." Tony had confirmed that Loki's outfit was exactly what Slytherin would wear. "Just thaw out his head so we can ask him some questions."

"I'm not sure that's how it works Anthony." Loki said testily. "What if I can't stop? What if he hurts you again?"

"I'm fine dude." Tony said. He waved his bandaged arm in the air. "Fit as a fiddle."

"Or escapes and hurts someone else?" Loki continued.

"We see your point Loki." Steve said gently. "But we can't stay in the dark like this. We have to find out what he knows. Other people might be in danger."

Loki nodded. He turned to face Big Bad. He concentrated and whispered the word for ice. This time he focused on removing the ice. He closed his eyes and felt the ice recede with his mind. When he opened them, Big Bad's face was free of ice and he looked very angry.

Big Bad tried to free himself from the ice prison, but it was to no avail. Tony watched this with boredom.

"You can do that until you're all tuckered out and then we can ask you our questions or we can do it now and save all of us a lot of time, effort, and annoyance." Tony drawled from his chair.

Loki began. "Why did you capture us?"

At this point Big Bad almost seemed to brighten. "A behavioral experiment."

"What?"  
Big Bad seemed almost eager to talk about his work. "My life's work. Nature versus nurture and the genesis of evil. Take five superheroes and one villain. Erase their memories and see if evil is inherent or learned."  
"Five superheroes? But there were only four of us in the room." Steve said.  
"Yes, unfortunately two of the subjects escaped. But my variables are still in place and they were wildcards at best."  
"One villain?" Loki said.  
"Oh yes." Big Bad said.  
"Well who is it?" Steve demanded.  
"Not telling." Big Bad said. "Just because you escaped doesn't mean my findings won't be valid."  
"What did you plan for when your experiment was through?" Thor asked.  
"Kill the lab rats."


	6. Chapter 6

Tony sprawled on one of the beds, staring at the ceiling. "This is not good. This is so far from good they're not in the same school district. We're in that crappy one with the metal detectors. The one where a wise teacher comes to change the kid's lives through the power of dance or the written word, except the teacher never comes because that's how far from good we are."

The other three men stare at Tony. He notices their confusion.

"You guys suck. How have you not seen a single movie?"

Loki and Thor look at each other in confusion. What's a movie?

"I've seen plenty of pictures." Steve said defensively.

"The fact that you call them pictures solidifies the fact that you have not. Freaking weirdo aliens, and you with your 1940's driver's license. Everyone gets to be cool but me."

Loki broke in before Tony could sink again into a pouting session. "Perhaps we should avoid going off on another tangent. We have much to discuss."

Big Bad, actual name Cecil Flanagan as they discovered, handed over a few more pieces of information before Loki froze him once again and they stowed him in the bushes. Most troubling was the news that one of them was a villain. Loki had a sinking suspicion, he knew exactly who the villain was. How could he not be? That journal, it was filled with so much vitriol. Talk of a world made free from freedom. Jealousy of his brother. Doubts about his lineage. The others couldn't know. Loki could change. He knew he could. He just needed a fresh start. A chance to be different.

Dr. Flanagan also wouldn't tell them what his plan was to dispose of them after the experiment was over. Only that it was clean and absolutely fool-proof. They also questioned him as to why he had chosen them. His only answer was a vague reference to New York. They had grown weary of his riddles and half-truths so they had re-frozen him for the time being.

The group of friends? Acquaintances? The group of men decided to go out for dinner. They loaded into the hummer and Tony soon scouted out the finest restaurant in... wherever they were. Once there Thor and Steve contented themselves with cheese burgers. Tony ordered salmon, brain food he claimed. Loki had an extremely rare steak. The food was delicious and the conversation floated easily from one topic to the next, generally prompted by Tony.

Tony had taken it upon himself to introduce his three "amish" friends into American society. He told them about the magic of AC/DC, promising to play them a few songs from a CD he had found in the hummer. He explained the plots of films at length, taking special care with Harry Potter, the Godfather, and Freedom Writers. How does one fit that much asininity into their brain? Loki wondered. Despite the inane chatter, he found he was enjoying himself. Tony was a cunning linguist, while he concerned himself with trivial things they were always interesting. Loki was also enjoying reconnecting with his brother. He did not believe the cruel things that other fellow in the journal had written. Thor was intelligent, honorable, and fiercely loyal. Most of all he enjoyed speaking with Steve, when the man could get a word in edgewise. Steve was a man of quiet strength and moral fortitude. A natural leader. He was also gentle, but would not let himself be pushed around by anyone. Loki found that paradox fascinating. Steve was a man out of time, that much was clear. Perhaps together they all could find Steve's identity. That appealed to Loki very much.

In the car Tony forced them to listen to AC/DC at top volume. Loki found it distasteful. Especially the song "Shoot to Thrill." For whatever reason the song made him think of some distant past defeat.

They pulled back up to the hotel. Tony and Thor decided to take an after dinner swim. Steve and Loki hung back. They each stretched out on one of the queen size beds. Each man was very tall, their feet hung over the bed slightly. Where Steve was broad, Loki was (how had Tony put it?) wispy. They sat in relative quiet. Steve occasionally flicking the channel on the remote. He finally found an old black and white film that stayed his hand. He eyed the screen with intense longing, almost pain.

The man on the screen said "In all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, she walks into mine." Out the corner of his eye Loki noticed Steve mouthing along with the words. Steve glances over and sees Loki. He goes red.

"Casablanca. I must have..." He pauses, he rubs his eyes, trying to jog a memory. "I must have seen it a billion times at the theater, but that can't be right." He lets out a frustrated sigh. Loki reaches across the divide and pats Steve's hand. Steve smiles his thanks and they settle in to watch the film.

Loki is swept up in the doomed romance of Rick and Ilsa. The lines are like poetry. Suddenly Loki understands Tony's love for film and pop culture. Are they all like this? Can they all be so impossibly beautiful? When the end credits rolled Steve stood and crept into the bathroom. He emerged wearing his plain white t-shirt and some incredibly loud pajama bottoms that Tony had no doubt picked while they had been assembling their clothes. They had dollar signs all over them.

Steve noticed Loki's raised eyebrow. "There's a pair waiting for you in there as well."

Loki rose from the bed and apprehensively stepped into the restroom. There lay three more pairs of pajama bottoms. He saw a pair that had snakes all over them, he liked them. They were black and green. However, he was growing weary of Tony's constant teasing, and from dinner he knew that these pants were just the sort of thing that Salazar slytherin would wear. Tony had of course picked them for that very reason. Deciding to not play into Tony's hands Loki grabbed a pair of bright red pajama bottoms with sports cars all over them. Tony had probably chosen these for himself. Loki smirked, when he imagined Tony's face.  
When Loki emerged, Steve was still staring disdainfully at his pants. "You know, it's times like these I'm almost certain Tony is the villain." Steve said.  
Loki froze at the mention of the villain, but relaxed at Steve's playful tone. "Shall we watch another film?" He said.****

Elsewhere...

This room was so dark. He couldn't stand. If he could only change back, maybe then he could think clearly. As if reading his thoughts, searing pain jolted through his entire body. Scrambling his thoughts, and sending him into a fresh wave of rage.


End file.
